The report predicts that Android-powered tablets will make up approximately 50 percent of the tablet market in 2014-2015 while iPads will only make up about 30 percent

There’s no question that tablets have hit the mobile market in a big way. In Q2 2011, tablet shipments outpaced netbook shipments, and now, some studies suggest that iPads will surpass the use of desktop computers in K-12 schools by 2016.

A famous player in the tablet arena is the iPad. It was initially released in April 2010, with the iPad 2 following in March 2011. While many other competitors have hit the mobile scene, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola Xoom, BlackBerry PlayBook, and the HP TouchPad, none of these have been able to match the iPad’s popularity and dominant market share.

In fact, a report released by ABI Research, a marketing research firm based in New York, said that Apple’s iPad 2 accounted for 68 percent of tablet shipments in Q2 2011. Another study conducted by comScore showed that 97.2 percent of U.S. tablet traffic in August 2011 was attributed to both iPads.

Now, new reports are saying that Android tablets will take over in 2014.

The report, which was released by technology analyst firm J. Gold Associates, predicts that Android-powered tablets will make up approximately 50 percent of the tablet market in 2014-2015 while iPads will only make up about 30 percent. Tablets with the Window’s operating system will account for 10 percent.

“By 2014-15, we expect Android tablets to acquire a majority of the consumer market as the number of vendors and variety of models overwhelm the iPad,” said Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates. “But iPad will continue to hold the largest share of the enterprise market where specialized features built into some Android tablets will be valued but which will take longer to gain share.”

According to the report, iPad will have 40 percent of the business market where Android will have 30 percent and Windows will have 15 percent.

With so much hype over Apple's products, it's kind of a breath of fresh air that other tablets could eventually move in for some heated competition. On the other hand, this report doesn't surprise me much, since Android is already beating Apple in the smartphone market share realm.

I have to admit that I'm leaning more toward Android's corner because of Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire tablet, which will run its own version of the Android operating system. Sure, the Kindle Fire lacks 3G access, a microphone and a camera, but for $199 and a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime (which is $79 per year), I can finally justify buying a tablet. Dropping $400-$500 beforehand when I have two desktops, two laptops and a smartphone just didn't make financial sense at the time. The addition of Kindle Owners’ Lending Library has especially piqued my interest in the tablet, and Amazon Prime for $79 a year is definitely a strong consideration when I buy the Fire. So I guess I’m more into Amazon's tablet, and find it interesting that Android-powered tabs could give the iPad a run for its money in the coming years.